Unit 6a: Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) basics Decision Support for Quality Improvement This material was developed by Johns Hopkins University, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC

Objective Define decision support, its importance, and why it is difficult to implement Component 12/Unit 62 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Clinical Decision Support Systems Definition: “…active knowledge systems which use two or more items of patient data to generate case-specific advice.” Component 12/Unit 63 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Wyatt, J. & Spiegelhalter, D. (1991)

A Decision Tree Component 12/Unit 64 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Image:

Clinical Decision Support Systems Will the decision-aid be used in a clinical setting? Will its advice alter decisions? Will altered decisions lead to changed behavior? Will altered behavior change patient outcomes? Four Fundamental Questions: Component 12/Unit 65 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Meaningful Use Clinical decision support is described as “health information technology functionality that builds upon the foundation of an EHR to provide persons involved in care processes with general and person-specific information, intelligently filtered and organized, at appropriate times, to enhance health and health care.” Component 12/Unit 66 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Federal Register: January 13, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 8) Proposed Rules

Clinical Decision Support Systems Effects on Medication Safety CDSS combined with CPOE can improve medication safety & reduce medication-related expenditures –Introduces automation at the time of ordering –Increases legibility –Assures that the order is safe and compliant with guidelines Seidling and colleagues (2010) created a comprehensive software-algorithm that extracted relevant patient information e.g., age, renal function, co-medications and adjusted upper dose limits to these patient characteristics. This highly specific algorithm-based CDSS significantly improved electronic prescription quality & reduced prescription of excessive doses. Component 12/Unit 67 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Kuperman, Bobb, Payne et. al., 2007

Clinical Decision Support Systems Are They Being Used? Despite potential usefulness, lack of widespread acceptance “Diagnosis is the dominant decision-making issue in medicine.” “Clinicians will use knowledge-based systems if the programs can be shown to function at the level of experts.” “Clinicians will use stand-alone decision-support tools.” Myths Component 12/Unit 68 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Edward (Ted) E. Shortliffe, Conference on Medical Thinking University College, London, June 23, 2006

Clinical Decision Support Systems Are They Being Used? Provision does not guarantee uptake Factors that have an impact on CDSS use –Availability of hardware –Technical support and training –Integration of systems into workflows –Relevance/timeliness of clinical messages –Endorsement by colleagues –Degree of perceived threat to autonomy –Degree of interference with doctor-patient interactions Component 12/Unit 69 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Moxey et al, 2010

Clinical Decision Support Systems Are They Being Used? Integration with workflow Ease of navigation and use Timing and frequency of prompts Perception of time Presentation Content Relevance Information quality Information type Links to supportive information Local constraints Component 12/Unit 610 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Moxey et al, 2010

CDSS and CPOE Recommendations for Success Seamless integration of CPOE with CDSS into systems and workflow Access to Internet-based and other online support material Designing systems specifically for clinical area Measuring CDSS impact to ensure overall benefit Ensuring that CPOE systems provide error and interaction checking Ensuring that CPOE systems facilitate weight- and physiology-based dosing Component 12/Unit 611 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Handler et. al., 2004

Clinical Decision Support Systems Recommendations for Success Using interruptive alerts discriminately (only for high severity events) Providing a simple, vendor-independent interface for institutional customization of CPOE alert thresholds Maximizing use of automated systems and passive data capture Ensuring widespread availability of CPOE and CDSS using secure wireless and portable technologies, where appropriate Component 12/Unit 612 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Handler et. al., 2004

Decision Support Key Functions Administrative Managing clinical complexity and details Cost control Decision support Component 12/Unit 613 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Perreault & Metzger, 1999

Decision Support Administrative Function Supports clinical coding and documentation Example: authorization of procedures and referrals “Choosing diagnosis codes is a non-intuitive operation for the practitioner. Mistakes are frequent with severe consequences on healthcare evaluation and funding” Component 12/Unit 614 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Lecornu et. al, 2009

Decision Support Complexity Management Function Assists with the details of managing clinical complexity Examples: –Keeping patients on research and chemotherapy protocols –Tracking orders –Referral follow-up –Preventive care Component 12/Unit 615 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Decision Support Cost Control Function Supports control of costs Examples: –Monitoring medication orders –Avoiding duplicate or unnecessary tests Component 12/Unit 616 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Decision Support Decision Support Function Supports clinical diagnosis and treatment plan processes and promotes use of best practices Examples: –Condition-specific clinical practice guidelines –Population-based management –Clinical calculation –Disease registries and patient tracking tools –Summary screens –Order sets Component 12/Unit 617 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Metzger, J. and Macdonald, K. (2002),

Summary CDSS integrate a medical knowledge base, patient data, and an inference engine to generate care-specific advice. Despite potential usefulness, there has not been widespread clinician acceptance of CDSS Use of CDSS by clinicians will alter clinical decision-making, change behaviors, and improve patient outcomes. Key functions of CDSS are: administrative, managing clinical complexity/details, cost control, and decision support. Component 12/Unit 618 Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011